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Discussion on Horse kicked in face | |
Author | Message |
New Member: ds109 |
Posted on Tuesday, Jul 20, 2010 - 2:59 pm: One month ago my 4 year old TB gelding was possibly kicked in the face by one of his pasture mates. One day he was fine and the next morning he had a large lump in the middle of his face, just below eye level.This lump is very hard and feels like bone. There was no skin abrasion,puncture wound, or hair loss.I called a vet out to look at it and he suggested that I use DMSO and Dex but he wasn't optimistic that it would ever go away. The only change in this occurred 2 days ago when a small hard knot appeared below his left eye. Feels the same as the other just much smaller. Any thoughts or suggestions? |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 7:34 am: Welcome David,These certainly sound like traumatic events with the periosteum (covering to the bone of the skull) reacting as it normally does with a very firm swelling. However the lack of evidence on the skin makes one wonder. The next step to ruling in or out this cause would be to take some radiographs of the swellings. DrO |
New Member: ds109 |
Posted on Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 11:20 am: DrO, Thanks for your comments. My assumption that he was kicked is purely circumstantial. It came up overnight, I have been told by others that a barefoot horse can kick another horse without breaking the skin, and he is low-man on the totem pole when it comes to pasture hierarchy.All of those lead me to believe the kicked in the face theory. I agree that radiographs are in order. I guess my question at this point is is it possible that this will not go down? Again, thanks for your help. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 6:19 pm: David, when you ask "is it possible" you must remember almost anything is possible. The answer to such a question is meaningless. Looked at from another perspective however most swellings go down in time.DrO |
New Member: ds109 |
Posted on Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 7:28 pm: DrO, Thanks again for taking the time to comment and I apologize for asking a meaningless question. |
Member: juliem |
Posted on Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 7:40 pm: David, I think Dr. O meant it's meaningless to ask "is it possible", since most anything is possible. I don't think he meant your question about whether the swelling would go down is meaningless. He's really not THAT grumpy! And welcome to HA. Julie |
Member: mrose |
Posted on Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 11:38 pm: Hi David. Has the horse had any other symptoms? We had a mare that got kicked in the face by her 6 mo. old foal. There was never a mark (I saw it happen, so am sure she was kicked) however, she developed a partial paralysis of her face and ear. For awhile, she couldn't even blink her eye and we had to put ointment in it several times a day for a week or so. She did recover except for a DrOop in her lip. I was wondering about any other signs of being kicked as a kick hard enough to raise a lump often leaves other signs of a kick, as with our mare.It strikes me as little odd that a second lump would rise this long after the injury. |
New Member: ds109 |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 22, 2010 - 7:31 am: Sara, I have noticed no other symptoms and yes the whole thing seems odd to me, especially the second lump. Just as odd to me is the horse has never shown any sensitivity to the area at all. I have spoken with a vet that is coming to do radiographs and I will be happy to post the results of those. I appreciate your input. |
Member: mrose |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 22, 2010 - 11:54 am: To settle curiosity, do let us know the outcome of the x-rays. It's even a possibility that the second bump might have nothing to do with the first bump. After a lifetime with horses I have learned that if it's weird/difficult to explain, it can happen to your horse! One wonders sometimes how they've survived this long. |
Member: cometrdr |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 22, 2010 - 11:59 am: got any pictures? that would be good to see - purely from a stand point if it happens to my horses it is good to have something that I can say Hey Yea that guy David on HA had that happen to his horse he did this and that and all was good... I love HA for that - and welcome to the club Mr D!!! (and julie is right Dr O is really a sweetheart but don't tell him i said that!!!lol) |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 22, 2010 - 7:25 pm: Hello David,I apologize if I offended. As others have noted the question is not meaningless, just any answer to it would be. So the value of the question is that it becomes a teaching moment. I try to get folks thinking about horse health logically. Most often this means trying to focus in on the probable and backing it up with the knowable. Discussions of all that is possible no matter how improbable is rarely illuminating. Don't believe a word of what they say about me above, I am a grumpy old SOG. DrO |
Member: ajudson1 |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 22, 2010 - 9:17 pm: Dr SOG is it now?,Seriously, David, Please do keep us updated; some of the best lessons on here are from other members experiences. Dr. Knowable (a man of many names, ha ha!) keeps us straight and up to date. And when it comes to horses, it's helpful to have lots of bubble wrap on hand. |
Member: mrose |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 22, 2010 - 11:51 pm: Umm..SOG?? Sentimental Old Geezer??? |
Member: rtrotter |
Posted on Friday, Jul 23, 2010 - 5:11 am: SOG- Son of a gun |
Member: ajudson1 |
Posted on Friday, Jul 23, 2010 - 9:35 am: Love yours Sara, lol! |